Editing Intensive pig farming (section)

==Criticism ==
[[Image:Gestcrate01.jpg|thumb|250px|[[pig|Sow]]s are often confined in gestation crates, which usually does not allow the pig to turn around or lay down comfortably. Confinement farming methods have come under increasing public scrutiny due to [[animal welfare]] and [[Environmentalism|environmental]] concerns.]]
[[File:Killing - Harling Farm.webm|thumb|Footage of a 'Quality Assured' labeled pig farm in England]]
[[File:East Anglian Pig Co. Exposed - Animal Equality Undercover Investigation.webm|thumb|Staff behaviour in pig farms]]
[[File:Pigs boiled alive.webm|thumb|Slaughterhouse footage showing pigs shocked, beaten, and boiled alive]]

===Dispute regarding farming methods===
Intensive piggeries have been negatively contrasted with [[free range]] systems. Such systems usually refer not to a group-pen or shedding system, but to outdoor farming systems. Those that support outdoor systems usually do so on the grounds that they are more animal friendly and allow pigs to experience natural activities (e.g., wallowing in mud, relating to young, rooting soil). Outdoor systems are usually less economically productive due to increased space requirements and higher morbidity, (though, when dealing with the killing of piglets and other groups of swine, the methods are the same.) They also have a range of environmental impacts, such as [[denitrification]] of soil<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.edpsciences.org/articles/agro/pdf/2002/07/19.pdf|title=The fate of nitrogen in outdoor pig production|website=Edpsciences.org|access-date=28 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040831180921/http://www.edpsciences.org/articles/agro/pdf/2002/07/19.pdf|archive-date=31 August 2004|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Bergius |first1=Sandy |last2=Parkes |first2=Philip |last3=Stankevicius |first3=Rolandos |others=Høgh-Jensen, Henning; Porter, John |url=http://www.kursus.kvl.dk/shares/ea/03Projects/32gamle/_2002/pig%20farming.pdf#page=18 |title=Investigation of carbon and nitrogen cycles in pig farming |pages=16–17 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080625192517/http://www.kursus.kvl.dk/shares/ea/03Projects/32gamle/_2002/pig%20farming.pdf#page=18 |archive-date=25 June 2008}}</ref> and erosion. Outdoor pig farming may also have welfare implications, for example, pigs kept outside may get sunburnt and are more susceptible to heat stress than in indoor systems, where air conditioning or similar can be used.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.depts.ttu.edu/porkindustryinstitute/research/MANAGING%20HEAT%20STRESS%20IN%20OUTDOOR%20PIGS.htm|title=Managing Heat Stress in Outdoor pigs|website=Depts.ttu.edu|access-date=28 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120706235613/http://www.depts.ttu.edu/porkindustryinstitute/research/MANAGING%20HEAT%20STRESS%20IN%20OUTDOOR%20PIGS.htm|archive-date=6 July 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thepigsite.com/articles/5/housing-and-environment/669/heat-stress-index-chart-for-swine-producers|title=Heat stress index chart for swine producers|website=Thepigsite.com|access-date=28 July 2017|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130204084206/http://www.thepigsite.com/articles/5/housing-and-environment/669/heat-stress-index-chart-for-swine-producers|archive-date=4 February 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> Outdoor pig farming may also increase the incidence of worms and parasites in pigs.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1016/S0020-7519(97)00022-2 |vauthors=Roepstorff A, Murrell KD |title=Transmission dynamics of helminth parasites of pigs on continuous pasture: ''Ascaris suum'' and ''Trichuris suis'' |journal=Int. J. Parasitol. |volume=27 |issue=5 |pages=563–72 |date=May 1997 |pmid=9193950 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thepigsite.com/pighealth/article/411/management-control-and-prevention|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061124141454/http://www.thepigsite.com/pighealth/article/411/management-control-and-prevention|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 24, 2006|title=Management Control and Prevention - Managing Pig Health|website=The Pig Site|access-date=28 July 2017}}</ref> Management of these problems depends on local conditions, such as geography, climate, and the availability of skilled staff.

In certain environmental conditions – for example, a temperate climate – outdoor pig farming of these breeds is possible. However, there are many other breeds of pig suited to outdoor rearing, as they have been used in this way for centuries, such as [[Gloucester Old Spot]] and [[Oxford Sandy and Black|Oxford Forest]]. Following the UK ban of sow stalls, the British Pig Executive indicates that the pig farming industry in the UK has declined.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bpex.org/technical/general/pdf/marketupdate-sept05.pdf|title=British Pig Executive market update September 2005|website=Bpex.org|access-date=28 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080227150253/http://www.bpex.org/technical/general/pdf/marketupdate-sept05.pdf|archive-date=27 February 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref> The increase in production costs<ref>[http://farmfutures.com/story.aspx/another-move-away-pork-crates-/25/59594 "Another Move Away from Pork Crates,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120725210103/http://farmfutures.com/story.aspx/another-move-away-pork-crates-/25/59594 |date=2012-07-25 }} Farm Futures, May 8, 2012.</ref> has led to British pig-products being more expensive than those from other countries, leading to increased imports and the need to position UK pork as a product deserving a price premium.

In 1997, [[Grampian Country Foods]], then the UK's largest pig producer, pointed out that pigmeat production costs in the UK were 44 p/kg higher than on the continent. Grampian stated that only 2 p/kg of this was due to the ban on stalls; the majority of the extra costs resulted from the then strength of sterling and the fact that at that time meat and bone meal had been banned in the UK but not on the continent. A study by the Meat and Livestock Commission in 1999, the year that the gestation crate ban came into force, found that moving from gestation crates, to group housing added just 1.6 pence to the cost of producing 1&nbsp;kg of pigmeat. French and Dutch studies show that even in the higher welfare group housing systems – ones giving more space and straw – a kg of pigmeat costs less than 2 pence more to produce than in gestation crates.<ref name=ciwf08/>

===Sow breeding systems===
Organized campaigns by animal activists have focused on the use of the gestation crate, such as the 'gestation crate' and farrowing crate. The gestation crate has now been banned in the UK, certain US states, and other European countries, although it remains part of pig production in much of the US and European Union.

The sows selected for breeding will be confined in a gestation crate. Hogs (males) are kept confined in caged crates of the same size for the duration of their lives in order to have their sperm repeatedly extracted by workers. In an intensive system, the sow will be placed in a crate prior to insemination and will stay there for at least the start of her pregnancy, depending on each country's laws and local regulations. The typical length of the sow's pregnancy is 3 months, 3 weeks, and 3 days. In certain cases, sows may spend this time in the crate. However, a variety of farming systems are used and the time in the crate may vary from 4 weeks to the whole pregnancy.

There is also current controversy and criticism of 'farrowing crates'. A farrowing crate houses the sow in one section and her piglets in another. It allows the sow to lie down and roll over to feed her piglets, but keeps her piglets in a separate section. This prevents the large sow from sitting on her piglets and killing them, which is quite common where the sow is not separated from the piglets.<ref>[http://www.livestocktrail.illinois.edu/swinerepronet/paperDisplay.cfm?ContentID=6266 “Piglet Losses,”] University of Illinois Extension, November 5, 2003.</ref> Sows are also prevented from being able to move other than between standing and lying. Some models of farrowing crates may allow more space than others, and allow greater interaction between sow and young. Well-designed farrowing pens in which the sow has ample space can be just as effective as crates in preventing piglet mortality.<ref name=ciwf08/> Some crates may also be designed with cost-effectiveness or efficiency in mind and therefore be smaller.

Authoritative industry data indicate that moving from sow stalls to group housing added 2 pence to the cost of producing 1&nbsp;kg. of pigmeat.<ref name=ciwf08/>

Many English fattening pigs are kept in barren conditions and are routinely tail docked. Since 2003 EU legislation has required pigs to be given environmental enrichment and has banned routine tail docking. However, 80% of UK pigs are tail docked.<ref name=ciwf08/>

In 2015, use of sow crates was made illegal on New Zealand pig farms.<ref name="NZ_Herald_10691325">{{cite news |url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10691325&ref=facebookheadlines |title=Sow crates to be phased out by 2015 |date=1 December 2010 |newspaper=[[The New Zealand Herald]] |access-date=4 October 2011}}</ref>

===Effects on traditional rural communities===
Common criticism of intensive piggeries is that they represent a corporatization of the traditional rural lifestyle. Critics feel the rise of intensive piggeries has largely replaced family farming. In large part, this is because intensive piggeries are more economical than outdoor systems, pen systems, or the [[sty]]. In many pork-producing countries (e.g., [[United States]], [[Canada]], [[Australia]], [[Denmark]]) the use of intensive piggeries has led to market rationalization and concentration. ''The New York Times'' reported that keeping pigs and other animals in "unnaturally overcrowded" environments poses considerable health risks for workers, neighbors, and consumers.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/20/books/20book.html|title=You Know That Chicken Is Chicken, Right?|first=Michiko|last=Kakutani|date=20 November 2009|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=28 July 2017|via=NYTimes.com}}</ref>

===Waste management and public health concerns===
Contaminants from animal wastes can enter the environment through pathways such as through leakage of poorly constructed manure lagoons or during major precipitation events resulting in either overflow of lagoons and runoff from recent applications of waste to farm fields, or atmospheric deposition followed by dry or wet fallout. Runoff can leach through permeable soils to vulnerable aquifers that tap ground water sources for human consumption. Runoff of manure can also find its way into surface water such as lakes, streams, and ponds. An example of weather induced runoff having been recently reported in the wake of [[Hurricane Matthew]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2016/10/16/factory-farming-practices-are-under-scrutiny-again-in-n-c-after-disastrous-hurricane-floods/ |title=Factory farming practices are under scrutiny again in N.C. after disastrous hurricane floods |last1=Hernández |first1=Arelis R. |last2=Fritz |first2=Angela |last3=Mooney |first3=Chris |date=16 October 2016 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |access-date=5 September 2024 |url-access=limited |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161017145902/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2016/10/16/factory-farming-practices-are-under-scrutiny-again-in-n-c-after-disastrous-hurricane-floods/ |archive-date=17 October 2016}}</ref>

Many contaminants are present in livestock wastes, including nutrients, pathogens, veterinary pharmaceuticals and naturally excreted hormones. Improper disposal of animal carcasses and abandoned livestock facilities can also contribute to water quality problems in surrounding areas of CAFOs.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last1=Burkholder|first1=JoAnn|last2=Libra|first2=Bob|last3=Weyer|first3=Peter|last4=Heathcote|first4=Susan|last5=Kolpin|first5=Dana|last6=Thorne|first6=Peter S.|last7=Wichman|first7=Michael|date=2007|title=Impacts of Waste from Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations on Water Quality|journal=Environmental Health Perspectives|volume=115|issue=2|pages=308–312|doi=10.1289/ehp.8839|issn=0091-6765|pmc=1817674|pmid=17384784|bibcode=2007EnvHP.115..308B }}</ref>

Exposure to waterborne contaminants can result from both recreational use of affected surface water and from ingestion of drinking water derived from either contaminated surface water or ground water. High-Risk populations are generally the very young, the elderly, pregnant women, and immunocompromised individuals. Dermal contact may cause skin, eye, or ear infections. Drinking water exposures to pathogens could occur in vulnerable private wells.<ref name=":1" />

At Varkensproefcentrum Sterksel in the Netherlands, a pig farm has been created that reuses its waste streams. CO<sub>2</sub> and ammonia from the pig manure are reused to grow algae which in turn are used to feed the pigs.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://innovatienetwerk.onlinetouch.nl/135/48|title=442 -|website=Innovatienetwek.onlinetouch.nl|access-date=28 July 2017}}</ref>

Another method to reduce the effect on the environment is to switch to other breeds of pig. The [[enviropig]] is a genetically modified type of pig with the capability to digest plant phosphorus more efficiently than ordinary pigs, though the enviropig program ended in 2012 and did not reach commercial distribution.

Nutrient-rich runoff from CAFO's can contribute to [[Algal bloom]]s in rivers, lakes and seas. The 2009 harmful [[algal bloom]] event off the coast of [[Brittany|Brittany, France]] was attributed to runoff from an intensive pig farm.<ref name=":2">{{cite news|last=Chrisafis|first=Angelique|title=Lethal algae take over beaches in northern France|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/aug/10/france-brittany-coast-seaweed-algae|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=October 10, 2013}}</ref>

===North Carolina===
As of 2010, North Carolina housed approximately ten million hogs, most of which are located in the eastern half of the state in industrialized [[concentrated animal feeding operation]]s (CAFOs). This was not the case 20 years ago. The initial [[horizontal integration]] and the [[vertical integration]] that arose in this industry resulted in numerous issues, including issues of environmental disparity, loss of work, [[pollution]], [[animal rights]], and overall general public health. The most remarkable example of swine CAFO monopoly is found in the United States, where in 2001, 50 producers had control over 70% of total pork production. In 2001, the biggest CAFO had just over 710,000 [[Pig|sows]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://en.engormix.com/MA-pig-industry/management/articles/swine-production-global-perspective-t336/124-p0.htm|title=Swine production: a global perspective|website=En.engormix.com|date=7 February 2007 |access-date=28 July 2017}}</ref>

Originally, Murphy Family Farms [[Horizontal integration|horizontally integrated]] the North Carolina system. They laid the groundwork for the industry to be [[Vertical integration|vertically integrated]]. Today{{when|date=July 2017}} the hog industry in North Carolina is led by [[Smithfield Foods]], which has expanded into both nationwide and international production.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Ladd, Anthony |author2=Edwards, Bob |title=Corporate Swine, Capitalist Pigs: A Decade of Environmental Injustice in North Carolina |journal=Social Justice |volume=29 |issue=3 |pages=26–46 |year=2002 }}</ref>

The [[environmental justice]] problems in North Carolina's agroindustrialization of swine production seem to stem from the history of the coastal region's economy, which has relied heavily on black and low-income populations to supply the necessary agricultural labor. The industry's shift from family-owned hog farms to factory hogging has contributed to the frequent targeting of these areas.<ref>{{cite book |author=Wimberley, Ronald C., Morris, Libbly V. |title=The Southern Black Belt : A National Perspective |publisher=University of Kentucky |location=Lexington |year=1997 }}</ref>

This swine production and pollution that accompanies factory hogging is concentrated in the parts of North Carolina that have the highest disease rates, the least access to medical care, and the greatest need for positive education and economic development.<ref>Raine J. Environmental Justice Issues of the North Carolina Swine Industry [Masters thesis]. Durham, NC:Duke University, Nicholas School of the Environment, 1998.</ref> Since hog production has become consolidated in the coastal region of N.C., the high water tables and low-lying flood plains have increased the risk and impact of hog farm pollution. A swine CAFO is made up of three parts: the hog house, the “lagoon,” and the “spray field.” Waste disposal techniques used by small-scale traditional hog farms, like using waste as [[fertilizer]] for commercially viable crops, were adopted and expanded for use by CAFOs. Lagoons are supposed to be protected with an [[Permeability (earth sciences)|impermeable]] liner, but some do not work properly. This can cause environmental damage, as seen in 1995 when a lagoon burst in North Carolina. This lagoon released 25 million gallons of noxious [[sludge]] into North Carolina's [[New River (eastern North Carolina)|New River]] and killed approximately eight to ten million fish.<ref>Orlando, Laura. McFarms Go Wild, Dollars and Sense, July/August 1998, cited in Scully, Matthew. Dominion, St. Martin's Griffin, p. 257.</ref>

The toxins emitted by the swine CAFOs can produce a variety of symptoms and illnesses ranging from respiratory disorders, headaches, and shortness of breath to [[hydrogen sulfide]] poisoning, bronchitis, and asthma. The potential for spray field runoff or lagoon leakage puts nearby residents in danger of contaminated drinking water, which can lead to diseases like [[Salmonellosis|samonellosis]], [[giardiasis]], [[Chlamydia infection|Chlamydia]], [[meningitis]], [[cryptosporidiosis]], [[worm]]s, and [[influenza]].<ref>{{cite book |author=Donham K. |chapter=The impact of industrial swine production on human health |veditors=Thu K, Durrenberger E |title=Pigs, Profits, and Rural Communities |publisher=State University of New York Press |location=Albany, NY |year=1998 |pages=73–83 }}</ref>

===Denmark===
Slaughterhouses and veterinarians are obliged to report pigs with injuries to the [[Danish Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries|Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries]], which forwards cases to the police. There were relatively few cases before 2006, but by 2008-9 there were about 300 per year.<ref name=poldk/> When there are visible injuries, it represents not only a problem in animal welfare but also the farmers economy because parts or occasionally the entire carcass has to be discarded.<ref name=poldk/> From 2006 to 2009 the number of pigs with injuries caused by hard objects, such as planks or chains received by slaughterhouses rose significantly. It was possibly related to a system introduced in 2006, which rewards "the rushed loading of animals onto vehicles", as well as a sharp increase in uneducated Eastern European farm workers unaware of Danish laws.<ref name=poldk>Andreas Lindquist (26 July 2010). ''[http://politiken.dk/indland/ECE1023503/danske-svin-bliver-banket-gule-og-blaa/ Danske svin bliver banket gule og blå.]'' [[Politiken]]. Retrieved 31 May 2016</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thepigsite.com/swinenews/22615/alleged-increase-in-pig-cruelty|title=Alleged Increase in Pig Cruelty|website=The Pig Site|access-date=28 July 2017}}</ref>

Gestation crates were sometimes used on some Danish farms to restrict the movement of sows during pregnancy, as documented by British celebrity chef [[Jamie Oliver]] in a television programme for the UK's [[Channel 4]] in 2009.<ref name=dbmc>{{cite web |url=http://www.dbmc.co.uk/press%20office/news_bull_display.asp?NEWS_BULLETIN_ID=58 |title=Response to 'Jamie Saves Our Bacon' |date=29 January 2009 |website=[[Danish Bacon|Danish Bacon and Meat Council]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090504110340/http://www.dbmc.co.uk/press%20office/news_bull_display.asp?NEWS_BULLETIN_ID=58 |archive-date=4 May 2009}}</ref> In other fields, such as bathing facilities for the pigs and floor material Danish requirements were higher than in the UK.<ref name=dbmc/> {{as of| 2008}} the practice was already prohibited for pigs exported to the UK.<ref>Christian Coff, David Barling, Michiel Korthals, Thorkild Nielsen, [https://books.google.com/books?id=MWLdeCeRdGkC&pg=PT111 ''Ethical Traceability and Communicating Food''], pp.90–91, Springer, 2008 {{ISBN|1-4020-8523-0}}.</ref> The use of gestation crates became illegal in Denmark (as part of the EU) in 2013.<ref>Jacky Turner. ''Animal Breeding, Welfare and Society.'' Earthscan, London. {{ISBN|978-1844075898}}</ref><ref>Humane Society International/Canada. ''[http://www.hsi.org/world/canada/work/intensive-confinement/facts/gestation_crates_campaign.html Ban Gestation Crates.]'' Retrieved 31 May 2016</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Livet i fikseringsboksen |trans-title=Life in the fixation box |url=https://anima.dk/landbrugsdyr/livet-i-fikseringsboksen |date=25 October 2012 |website=[[Anima (organization)|Anima]] |access-date=5 September 2024 |language=da}}</ref>

===New Zealand===
According to [[Scoop (news website)|Scoop]], in 2009 the New Zealand [[pork]] industry was "dealt a shameful public relations slap-in-the-face after its former celebrity kingpin, [[Mike King (comedian)|Mike King]], outed their [[farming]] practices as 'brutal', 'callous' and 'evil{{'"}} on a May episode of New Zealand television show ''[[Sunday (New Zealand TV programme)|Sunday]]''. King condemned the "appalling treatment" of factory farmed pigs. King observed conditions inside a New Zealand [[piggery]], and saw a dead female pig inside a gestation crate, lame and crippled pigs and others that could barely stand, pigs either extremely depressed or highly distressed, pigs with scars and injuries, and a lack of clean drinking water and food.

{{blockquote|Sow crate farming should be illegal and we should outlaw it right now. It is absolutely disgusting and I am sorry that I was part of it|sign=Mike King, 2009<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0905/S00230.htm|title=Mike King Condemns NZ Pig Cruelty - Scoop News|website=Scoop.co.nz|access-date=28 July 2017}}</ref>}}